{"id":2237142,"date":"2024-05-04T11:15:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T15:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/game-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth-2\/"},"modified":"2024-05-04T11:19:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T15:19:42","slug":"game-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/game-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaming Commission Plans to Spray 124,000 Acres for Spongy Moth"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgame-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2237142&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pennsylvania officials are ramping up efforts to combat the spongy moth invasion, formerly known as the gypsy moth, with\u2064 a $2.4 million budget to spray 124,000 acres. The \u2062Pennsylvania Game Commission targets multiple regions to safeguard \u2062habitat,\u2064 particularly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/notre-dame-cathedral-restoration-underway\/\" title=\"Notre Dame Cathedral restoration underway\">oak trees<\/a>, from moth damage. Chief Forester\u2064 Paul Weiss highlights the severe impact experienced\u2064 in\u2062 previous years. Pennsylvania is intensifying efforts to tackle \u2063the\u200d spongy moth invasion, formerly the gypsy moth, by allocating $2.4\u200b million to spray 124,000 acres. The Pennsylvania Game \u200dCommission is focusing\u2064 on \u200cvarious regions to protect habitats, especially oak trees, from moth damage. Chief Forester \u2063Paul\u200b Weiss emphasizes the significant impact seen in prior years.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2014 Pennsylvania officials are stepping up their efforts to control the spongy moth to prevent its spread.<\/p>\n<p>The invasive insect, formerly called the gypsy moth, has established itself in the commonwealth and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-indiana-students-are-flocking-to-private-schools-homeschooling\/\" title=\"Report: Indiana Students Are Flocking To Private Schools, Homeschooling\">numbers fluctuate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will spend $2.4 million to spray 124,000 acres, up from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_e6a5a3e4-df94-11ed-a071-87fd0d450abc.html\">109,000 acres<\/a><\/strong> last year and 63,000 acres in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Based on commission surveys of egg masses, spraying will occur in the\u00a0Southcentral, Northcentral, Southeast, Southwest, and Northeast parts of the commonwealth. The aim is to protect habitat and prevent the moths from harming oak trees especially.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, the year before, they hit really bad in the central part of the state,\u201d\u00a0said commission Chief Forester\u00a0Paul Weiss. \u201cWhen July rolled around, there were no leaves left on any of the trees. If you\u2019d have been hiking around in July, it would\u2019ve been full sun in the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lack of leaf cover can lead to wildfires, he said, as the sunlight dries out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/please-sanction-the-hell-out-of-flamin-hot-doritos-critics-blast-doritos-over-super-bowl-commercial\/\" title=\"\u2018Please Sanction The Hell Out Of Flamin\u2019 Hot Doritos\u2019: Critics Blast Doritos Over Super Bowl Commercial\">forest floor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat you see in high-population areas, everything will be covered by caterpillars,\u201d Weiss said.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will also spray their lands to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/game-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth\/\" title=\"Gaming authorities to treat 124,000 acres for sponge moths\">limit spongy moth numbers<\/a> and defoliation. The department aims to spray 228,000 acres. Weiss noted that, on some days, the commission and the department use the same airports to spray the forests.<\/p>\n<p>On state lands, defoliation dropped dramatically last year, from 850,000 acres in 2022 to 440,000 acres in 2023, Forest Health Manager Rosa Yoo noted in a DCNR <a href=\"https:\/\/www.media.pa.gov\/pages\/dcnr_details.aspx?newsid=1074\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: 'Pipeline' to Obama Admin Seen as 'Currency'\">press release<\/a><\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the goal of those programs are mitigation, not elimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s something we just have to live with, we do the best we can to suppress it in the areas that we can,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cIt\u2019s too big of a population, too widespread \u2014 we\u2019ll never eradicate it. We just have to pick out our most important areas and try to protect them as best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not spraying for the spongy moth would have consequences for some of Pennsylvania\u2019s most well-known wildlife.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that oak forest habitats are tremendously valuable to all wildlife,\u201d David Gustafson, director of the Game Commission\u2019s Bureau of Wildlife Habitat Management, said in a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.media.pa.gov\/pages\/game-commission-details.aspx?newsid=649\">press release<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cEverything from squirrels to bears to turkeys will have populations fluctuate based on acorn crops. If acorn production is low, bears will den earlier, weigh less, produce fewer and smaller cubs and get into more nuisance situations \u2026 Wild turkey and ruffed grouse populations also depend on acorns. So the actions we take now help to keep all of that in balance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pennsylvania officials intensify efforts to curb the spongy moth&#8217;s spread. Formerly known as the gypsy moth, this invasive insect resides in the Commonwealth with varying populations. The state&#8217;s Game Commission will allocate $2.4 million to spray 124,000 acres this year, an increase from 109,000 acres<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2237143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23320565820735-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2237142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23320565820735-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2237143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}